Iraq: Gunmen attack Shiite families, kill 16

Agencies |Thursday, September 5th, 2013

Baghdad: Gunmen attacked two Shiite families in a largely Sunni area south of Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, killing 16, officials said on Wednesday.

The killings raise On Tuesday’s death toll in shootings and bombings across the country to at least 83 people killed. Gunmen first opened fire on the two houses shortly before midnight in the town of Latifiyah and then planted bombs around them, a police officer said. Six children, five women and five men were killed, while nine people were wounded, he said. Last Wednesday, gunmen shot dead a seven-member Shiite family in the same town. A medical official confirmed the causality figure. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to release information. Sunni gunmen used to carry out brazen attacks against Shiite families in Sunni-dominated areas during the sectarian violence that engulfed the country after the US invasion and peaked in 2006 and 2007. (PTI)